ROBIN CHAPMAN

According to Wikipedia: "Robin John Chapman (18 January 1933 – 29 July 2020) was an English novelist, playwright and screenwriter.

Chapman was born in Croydon, Surrey. He was educated at Selhurst Grammar School (later Selhurst High School) and Christ's College, Cambridge, where he read English.[1] He began his career as an actor at Cambridge, playing Hamlet in the ADC's centenary production and assuming the presidency of the Marlowe Society, before acting at Stratford-upon-Avon and working in repertory. He then joined Joan Littlewood's revolutionary Theatre Workshop, where he turned to writing.

Among Chapman's stage plays are High Street China, Guests and One of Us.

He enjoyed a long career in television, favoured by Granada TV during its early days. His best-known work includes Spindoe (1968), the controversial Big Breadwinner Hog (1969), and many adaptations, including M. R. James' Lost Hearts, Jane Eyre, Eyeless in Gaza, and a considerable number of screenplays based on Roald Dahl's short stories for Tales of the Unexpected. In 1973 he scripted the six-episode BBC television drama series A Picture of Katherine Mansfield, and in 1976 he adapted two Graham Greene short stories, "Dream of a Strange Land" and "Under the Garden", for episodes of Shades of Greene presented by Thames Television.[2] Chapman's single plays for television include Blunt: The Fourth Man (1987) and two editions of Play for Today, all three presented by BBC TV.

His television plays have won awards from the Mystery Writers of America and the Writers Guild, as well as a BAFTA nomination.